Grid-based Traffic Vulnerability Analysis by Using Betweenness Centrality

We propose a technique to measure the impact of loss of traffic function in a particular area to surrounding areas. The proposed method is applied to the city of Seoul, which is the capital of South Korea with a population of about ten million. Based on the actual road network in Seoul, we construct an abstract road network using 1 km × 1 km grid cells. The link weight of the abstract road network is re-adjusted considering traffic volume measured at several survey points. On the modified abstract road network, we evaluate the traffic vulnerability by calculating a network measure of betweenness centrality for every single grid cell. This study analyzes traffic impacts caused by road dysfunction due to heavy rainfall in urban areas.